By James Oliphant
GLENDALE, Ariz. (Reuters) – In the end, Jalen Hurts finished second to Patrick Mahomes. Again.
After taking a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles fell to Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in Super Bowl 57, losing on a field goal with seconds left on the clock.
Mahomes threw two touchdowns in the game’s closing minutes and put his team in position for the game-winning 27-yard kick.
His heroics overshadowed a record-breaking performance by Hurts, who rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns, the most rushing yards by a quarterback in Super Bowl history. Hurts also threw for a score.
“It’s tough,” he told reporters.
Hurts has been there before.
He ended second to Mahomes in voting for the league’s Most Valuable Player award after leading the Eagles to a 14-3 record and a top seed in the playoffs.
The two made history as the first Black quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl.
“He came away with the win,” Hurts said. “We came up short, so it’s something that I know will motivate me.”
The Eagles led 24-14 at halftime and Hurts appeared to be on his way to being named the game’s MVP despite losing a fumble that led to a Chiefs’ score.
But a combination of a resurgent Mahomes and miscues on defense helped sink the Eagles.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles surrendered a 65-yard punt return that set up a Mahomes touchdown pass that gave the Chiefs an eight-point edge with less than 10 minutes to play.
Hurts then led his team on a 75-yard drive in which he scored both the touchdown and the two-point conversion, tying the game.
Mahomes responded with a drive of his own, punctuated by a 26-yard scramble, that ultimately set up the winning kick. And it was Mahomes who was named MVP.
Philadelphia had a shot at getting the ball back with about a minute remaining but a defensive holding penalty gave the Chiefs a first down, allowing them to run the clock to nearly zero and denying Hurts a chance to create his own late-game magic.
At 24, Hurts has plenty of time to play for an NFL championship again.
Mahomes, who is 27 and now has two titles to his name, is likely to be standing in his way for some time.
(Reporting by James Oliphant in Glendale, Ariz.; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
